Shape up
Different cambers explained
There are many different shapes, types and styles of snowboards out there for you to choose from. Many snowboards are a mix of several different shapes and edge controls now, but understanding each can help you decide what you want.
This is the more traditional style of boards. Basically, camber means that the board arches up towards the center from the primary contact points near each tip. In other words, it's convex, starting at each of these contact points. The primary contact points are the places that get the most contact with the snow. Each tip of the board on any shape arches up from these points, which aren't far from the tips.
“For the guy that's getting 200 days in, very aggressive, loves to carve, loves to do what's called early morning groomers—that's still the guy that likes that cambered board,” said Edgar Rivera, sales associate at Bobo's Mogul Mouse Ski & Patio and snowboarder since 1981. “He likes that aggressive bite feel. He's going one direction. Or the guy who likes big, big jumps—he still likes that board also. It's much more accurate and your pop, your spins, your landings, for half-pipe—definitely this [camber] board.”
Rivera also explained that turning is more difficult on camber because in order to do so, you have to “make it respond opposite” and make it into “a crescent moon shape.”
Rocker is essentially the opposite of camber. It doesn't arch up at all in the center—the entire board is shaped in that crescent moon shape mentioned above, making it an easier board to turn on and a great board for beginners, according to Rivera.
This board is a reaction to camber boards. The shape is especially good for powder because the nose elevates above the snow more easily.
“If you ever caught an edge [on a camber board], your primary contact points caught, so they had to elevate it. … Where those primary contact points were catching, they elevated it, just like a surfboard or a wakeboard. So now they've made it more catch-free.”
These boards started out for freestyle and still are great for this use, but improvements and tweaks have been made that incorporate different shapes together to make boards even better.
This is the kind of board Rivera and many of the guys at Bobo's ride. The name explains the shape pretty well—it's flat between the two primary contact points. This board basically gives the rider a happy medium between the extremes in rocker and camber boards. It doesn't wash out as easily as rocker does, but it also doesn't catch as easily as camber does. And it turns pretty easily because it's already halfway to the crescent moon shape needed.
This is also pretty easy to explain by the name. This board is wavy—convex under your feet and concave at the center. This board allows the rider to have the best parts of camber and rocker in one. It, like most boards now, falls into a cambered medley category. Not all boards will be exactly like this, but they typically include some combination of camber, rocker and/or flat in them.